Poople #661 started at OILS on June 6, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence S>Y, O>W, Y>L, W>P, I>O, L>O, L>P, with 3 par-preserving first moves.
The hint describes the move without naming the word. The full route stays closed until you ask for it.
Reveal a direction, not a word
The current row reads O-I-L-S. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 3 different first moves preserve the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 7-move answer
OILS -> OILY -> WILY -> WILL -> PILL -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP
Step 0OILSStart
Step 1OILYBridge
Step 2WILYBridge
Step 3WILLBridge
Step 4PILLBridge
Step 5POLLBridge
Step 6POOLBridge
Step 7POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1OILS -> OILY
Tile 4 changes S to Y; the move is sideways by letter shape. OILY has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 6 moves remaining. Other legal exits from OILS include NILS, AILS, OWLS.
Step 2OILY -> WILY
Tile 1 changes O to W; the move is sideways by letter shape. WILY has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from OILY include LILY, ONLY, OWLY.
Step 3WILY -> WILL
Tile 4 changes Y to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. WILL has 17 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WILY include WILD, WILT, WILE, LILY.
Step 4WILL -> PILL
Tile 1 changes W to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PILL has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WILL include BILL, HILL, WALL, FILL.
Step 5PILL -> POLL
Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POLL has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PILL include PULL, PALL, BILL, HILL.
Step 6POLL -> POOL
Tile 3 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from POLL include ROLL, TOLL, PULL, DOLL.
Step 7POOL -> POOP
Tile 4 changes L to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POOL include POOR, POOF, TOOL, COOL.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
OILS has 4 legal one-letter neighbors. OILY, NILS, AILS keep the route at 7 moves, while sampled detours begin OWLS (+2).
Compare 4 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
OILY
4: S -> Y
7
Keeps par
1
NILS
1: O -> N
7
Keeps par
4
AILS
1: O -> A
7
Keeps par
1
OWLS
2: I -> W
9
Adds 2 moves
8
OILS opening fingerprint
OILS groups its legal first moves as tile 1: NILS, AILS; tile 2: OWLS; tile 4: OILY. Two moves from the start, 14 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is AIDS, NIBS, NITS, AILS, AIMS, AIRS, LILY, NILS, NIPS, AWLS, ONLY, OWLY, OWES, OWNS.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
OILY is the narrowest displayed bridge
After OILS becomes OILY, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as NILS, AILS, OWLS show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
3
Temporary shape detours
0
Steps touching a vowel
3
How these figures were calculated
Poople recomputes adjacency and distance from the accepted 2,398-word graph. "Shortest routes" counts every path that lowers the remaining distance by one at each move; it is not a guess based on page text or player scores.
The displayed answer is one shortest route selected from that graph. Community scores and notes are kept separate because they describe player activity, not the mathematical route.
Data mode: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-26 18:22 UTCPuzzle date: June 6, 2027